Chapter 1:First Meetings
Excited chatter and barely restrained anticipation fill the air, as most, if not all, students currently attending Hogwarts stand assembled on the great stairs leading up to the castle, dividing their rapt attention between the ominous depths of the lake and the vast, clear sky.
A cry of surprised delight comes from the front and a small Hufflepuff girl, no more than a second-year, gestures to a little dark dot forming in the sky above the forbidden forest.
Kono nudges Danny, an infectious grin on her face and yes, this is really happening.
Danny holds his breath with the rest of the student body, as the first winged horses come into sight, all eyes fixed on the majestic carriage emerging behind the clouds.
Then all hell breaks loose and they're abruptly smothered by boisterous exclamations and wildly waving students, shouting their welcome to the in flying representatives of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic.
Loud laughter mixed with fragments of various conversations buzz around them, as the carriage draws nearer, until the horses smoothly touch down upon the ground and they get their first glimpse of the other students.
"Oh, the girls are so pretty!" exclaims a boy Danny vaguely recognises as the Hufflepuff seeker and watches his friend lean forward, hissing, "Shhh, Morgan! You know how Cindy can get!"
With a faint flush Danny notes that they do look very attractive, especially the blond girl that just appeared from inside the carriage.
The rather tall girl to his right seems to be more fascinated by Madame Maxime's stature, when she descends last from the carriage, while her friend, Max Bergman, a Ravenclaw prefect, openly admires the Abraxan horses.
Kono pinches him in the side and points excitedly towards the lake. "Oh Merlin, do you see it? Do you see it, Danny?"
He has to go to his tiptoes to peek over the crowd and even so, he's only able to snatch glances.
But a further look confirms that there's definitely something rising from the lake and then the mast breaks through the surface and pure chaos unfolds around them.
Kono is vibrating with excess energy and Danny has never seen her look so radiant. "They're here!" she exclaims joyfully, throwing her arms into the air with reckless abandon and promptly catching a boy right in the jaw.
As it happens, a moment later a giant ship arises in a spray of water, being expertly manoeuvred to the shore. Shortly after, the representatives of the Durmstrang Institute appear on deck, looking somber and quiet in comparison to the noisy Hogwarts crowd and the elegant, colourful robes of the Beauxbaton students.
The contrast is striking and Danny notices how people around them settle down, glancing nervously around, until Kono is the only one frantically waving in the direction of the ship.
Professor Grover sends them an icy glare, making his displeasure clear and Kono finally stops after Danny's pointed whisper of, "Kono, you'll see him in a minute! Do you really want to get detention?"
With a flurry of robes Headmistress Jameson arrives at the steps, hurrying down and Danny barely catches her murmured "Damn the Minister", before she is at the carriage and exchanges polite greetings with Madame Maxime, until both women are joined by Headmaster White and the process is repeated.
"Do you think it's true what they say?", Vince, a fellow Gryffindor, asks loudly, "That Durmstrang only trains dark wizards?"
Danny sighs, that comment is so typical for that loudmouth. One glance at Kono reveals her balling her fists, and since when is he supposed to be the rational one?
"Yeah, well, you know what they say about rumours", Danny says aggressively throwing him a sharp smile.
"But Grindelwald went there!" a chubby first-year pipes up. "And dad says they still only allow purebloods."
"Well, You-know-who attended Hogwarts", Kono snaps, crossing her arms defensively.
"And he wasn't a pureblood either", Danny comments, backing her up. What a surprise that little revelation had been to all wizardkind.
"That's right!" agrees Kono, glowering, daring anyone to deny that.
"What's got her wand in a knot?" Vince mumbles. "Got your period, Kalakaua?"
"Shut your face Fryer, or maybe I'll give you a period!" Danny shouts.
"Oh yeah?" challenges the other boy. And they're about to come to blows when-
"Detention!" Calls out a deep voice right behind them, cutting through the noise. Danny turns only to see Grover striding towards them, pinning them with his dark, disapproving glare. "Williams! Fryer! To me!"
"But Professor-!" protests Kono, and Danny gives her a quick shake of head. No need for them both to be caught up in detention, especially when she finally gets to see that elusive cousin of her.
Grover leads them forcefully back to school under mutters of "such an unworthy display", "behaving like children, in your seventh year!" and "a disgrace for Hogwarts!". They are given a whole speech on the matter, as well as the scheduled detention hours, before the professor releases them with a disdainful sniff.
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It's quiet when they head back, all the students and their respective headmasters must have headed inside to enjoy the feast in the Great Hall.
In front of the door, Danny and Vince exchange a terse nod in the unspoken understanding to let it go, before quietly sneaking inside to the Gryffindor table.
He plops down next to Kono and gives her a smile, immediately starting to fill his plate, before all dishes are replaced by dessert. He has to get at least some of the roast beef.
"Everything alright, Danny?"
"Just got detention with Grover on Thursday, he'll probably make me scrub cauldrons for hours", he grumbles, stabbing at one of the eggs on his plate.
"So, where is your cousin? Chin, right?"
"Over there", she says with a grimace, pointing to the Slytherin table, "Do you see Malfoy? He sits to his right." She sighs in defeat, shooting a dark glare at Malfoy's smug face. "Did they really have to pick Slytherin? The Beauxbaton students are sitting with the Ravenclaws", she adds slightly resentful.
He's a little distracted, when he sees the pretty blond girl from Beauxbatons walk up to try a dish from the Hufflepuff table and he even manages to catch her name, 'Lori'.
But he reluctantly stops himself from ogling and returns to searching for Kono's cousin in the crowd.
Next to Malfoy, huh? Danny lets his eyes sweep over the table, catching on light blond hair and pale skin. Malfoy wears his typical conceited, self important expression, but it's not as obnoxious as usual, apparently he's making an effort. Why did their year have to be saddled with a Malfoy?
They're still one of the more prominent dark families, old money, even after their involvement with the Dark Lord, because apparently, when Harry Potter (the-Boy-who-lived, the Chosen One, the Defeater of the Dark Lord) decides to pardon someone, even the likes of Draco Malfoy, the ministry scrambles to obey.
And there must have been a reason for Potter to forgive and forget, - Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter's school feud has been legendary, noted on even in history books - a reason the Daily Prophet could only speculate on.
Some sources have even claimed that a friendship developed between them in recent years. That's utter bullshit however, if the elder Malfoy is anything like the one Danny has to put up with daily.
Danny's not prejudiced, but he's seen enough of him to know that this Malfoy at least is still a supercilious prick.
"Hope he doesn't like the little git", he comments and Kono snorts in agreement.
Next to him sits an older, good-looking boy with asian features, probably 'Chin'. Kono's cousin doesn't seem to be particularly impressed by the young Malfoy-heir, although his manners are polite. Like all Durmstrang students, he wears a fur cape and a blood-red robe, although he appears to have ditched the matching fur hat. A walking stick completes the outfit.
Danny honestly wonders how they aren't sweating like pigs under all that fur.
Suddenly fingers claw into his arm and Danny yelps at Kono's manic expression of delight.
"Merlin's beard, that's Steven McGarrett!"
"Who?"
"The quidditch player!" Kono answers, looking at him in astonishment. "He's sitting on Chin's left!"
Danny shrugs, not bothering to look. "You know, I'm actually more into football. Give me the New York Jets any day."
"He's the youngest chaser to ever make it on a professional team!" she explains with faint disbelief, like his ignorance on the subject is physically painful to her.
The news spreads rapidly down the table, like wild fire, and soon there are people everywhere, straining their head to get a glimpse of the celebrity, Danny being the exception.
"Never heard of him and I'm really not that interested, sorry", he admits, enjoying the shocked expressions of his housemates. He'd never get why Quidditch is so damn popular. For one, there are far too many balls involved in the game to make any sense, and how could it be fair to let the catch of the snitch basically decide the whole game? Danny shakes his head, aware that he will probably never truly understand how wizards think, despite being one of them.
"Dude, really? ", exclaims Jerry, who has been sitting directly opposite them and obviously listening in. "Danny, I'm muggle-born, too, but this guy is superfamous! He's like in almost every sports section of the Daily Prophet!"
"Which would actually mean something, if the wizarding world had more than one sport, Jerry!"
"It's not like we need more than one! Quidditch is awesome!" Jerry exclaims, leaning forward to catch his gaze.
Oh, now it's on! Danny can be equally stubborn, he's not giving in. "No, it's not, it doesn't make any sen-"
"Okay guys, that's it, timeout, no more arguments about Quidditch!" Kono demands and they settle down in awkward silence.
Jerry decides to bridge the silence first and says awkwardly, "I didn't know you have a cousin in Durmstrang, Kono." Seeing her smile, he ducks his head a little to hide his blush." That's pretty cool. "
"Thanks! I haven't seen Chin in a while, but we write letters. After the war, there's been some trouble between his father and my branch of the family, different views on a lot of issues, so we don't get to meet often."
"Huh, so that's why you get owls so often!" Jerry surmises and Kono nods in confirmation.
Danny's never asked before, because every time the topic of her cousin came up in conversation, Kono would close off, but this time she's fairly glowing with no traces of sadness apparent, so what the heck, he would ask.
"So, I was wondering, what's Durmstrang like? "
"Chin doesn't talk much about school. They learn a lot more attack spells and charms though", she says quietly.
"I've heard it's like a military academy only they use wands instead of firearms", the muggle-born Jenna Kaye whispers to him. "They do drills and everything."
"That's stupid!" Josh, the guy next to her, scowls at them and says, "There's no war! And who would be idiotic enough to plan a coup withHarry Potter as Head of the Auror division!"
Danny can't stop himself from butting in at that, "There's always a war somewhere and we shouldn't expect Mr Potter to save us all the time."
"So being prepared for eventual conflict can be a good thing!" Kono says forcefully, closing the argument down before it really begins.
Then dessert appears and the mouthwatering sight of the various delicacies serves as a good deterrent to any possible arguments.
Good thing, too, because he can't wait to taste those jam doughnuts.
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Later that day, Kono finally gets to see her cousin and Danny watches her light up in unabashed joy, before throwing herself into his arms with an enthusiastic 'Cuz!'and hugging tightly. Danny grins at the spectacle, then notices Chin's friend fidget awkwardly, as the cousins, or rather Kono, exchange news about their family.
He takes pity upon the guy, it must suck not to know anyone here, and tries for a pleasant smile, as he sticks his hand out. "Hey there, I'm Danny Williams. Uh, welcome to Hogwarts?"
The guy smiles, shaking his hand and damn he's really tall.
"Thanks, I guess."
"So, who are you?" Since tall guy apparently doesn't know the basics of introducing oneself.
For a second he looks shocked, then his eyes narrow and he's eyeballing Danny, like he's some kind of weird creature or space alien.
Danny scowls at him in response, what the hell is his problem, he was just being nice!
Abruptly the boy's expression lightens and he looks like he has figured something out.
"Steven Jack Aloysius McGarrett", he says expectantly.
"Huh...", Danny thinks the name sounds somewhat familiar, maybe Kono has mentioned it before? "Weird name."
And now there really is shock on McGarrett's face and okay, Danny has been seriously rude to say that about his name.
"Uh, sorry! I didn't mean it like that! I know all the old pureblood families tend to have such names, but I'm muggle-born, so I'm still not quite used to it."
Squaring his shoulders he wonders, whether McGarrett is one of those superior assholes, who think they're so hot, because of their oh so pure blood. There's been less discrimination since the end of the war, but it's still there.
If so, Danny isn't taking that lying down.
Unexpectedly, McGarrett laughs and his eyes are warm, when he says, "Nice to meet you, Danny. And call me Steve, that shouldn't be too weird, right?"
Okay, so not an asshole.
Danny grins. "Alright Steve."
His smile is blinding.
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An: Reviews would be lovely :)